N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 18 § 421.15 : DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES — Regulations of the Department of Social Services — Social Services — Family and Children's Services — Standards of Practice for Adoption Services — Adoption study process

Authorized agencies operating an adoption program shall:

(a) Conduct an adoption study process in groups, individually, or in any combination thereof. Such adoption study shall include at least one visit to the applicant's home.

(b) In at least one session in any study process containing two or more group sessions, include the participation of parents who have adopted a child.

(c)Inform applicants at the first appointment or meeting that the following will be required prior to the conclusion of the adoption study:

(1) report from a physician about the health of each member of the household;

(2) references from at least three persons, only one of which may be related to the applicant(s) who can attest to the character, habits, reputation and personal qualifications of the applicant(s) and their suitability for caring for a child;

(3) if married, proof of marriage;

(4) if married and living separate and apart from their spouse:

(i) proof that the separation is based upon a legally recognizable separation agreement or decree of separation; or

(ii) an affidavit executed by the prospective adoptive parent attesting that he or she has been or will be living separate and apart from his or her spouse for a period of three years or more prior to the commencement of the adoption proceeding;

(5) if previously married, proof of dissolution of marriage by death or divorce;

(6) evidence of employment and salary, such as W-2 form or pay stub for each employed applicant;

(7)

(i) a response to an agency inquiry to the Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment indicating whether the applicant(s) and/or any other person over the age of 18 who resides in the home of the applicant(s) are the subject(s) of an indicated child abuse or maltreatment report and, if the applicant(s) or any other person over the age of 18 who resides in the home of the applicant(s) resided in another state at any time during the five years preceding the application for approval as adoptive parent(s) made in accordance with this Part, the response from the child abuse and maltreatment registry of the applicable child welfare agency in each such state of previous residence; and

(ii) a response to an agency inquiry to the Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs whether the applicant(s) and/or any other person over the age of 18 who resides in the home of the applicant(s) are listed on the register of substantiated category one cases of abuse or neglect maintained by the Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs.

(8) a response from the Office of Children and Family Services to the Federal and State criminal history record checks of the applicant and any other person over the age of 18 currently residing in the home of such applicant in accordance with section 421.27 of this Part. If a prospective adoptive parent is approved or if the approval of an approved adoptive parent is not revoked, notwithstanding that the agency is notified by the Office of Children and Family Services that the prospective or approved adoptive parent or any other person over the age of 18 who is currently residing in the home of the prospective or approved adoptive parent has a criminal history record of a discretionary disqualifying crime, a record of the reasons why the prospective or approved adoptive parent was determined to be appropriate and acceptable to be approved adoptive parent, provided, however, the agency may not grant or continue approval where the prospective or approved adoptive parent has been convicted of a mandatory disqualifying crime or where an authorized agency, as defined in section 371(10)(a) or (c) of the Social Services Law, has been directed by the Office of Children and Family Services to deny such application or to hold such application in abeyance because of the results of the Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal history record check conducted in accordance with section 421.27 of this Part; and

(9) a sworn statement from each applicant, indicating whether to the best of such applicant's knowledge, such applicant or any person over the age of 18 currently residing in the home has ever been convicted of a crime in New York State or any other jurisdiction. If an applicant discloses in the sworn statement furnished in accordance with this paragraph that he/she or any other person over the age of 18 currently residing in the home has been convicted of a crime, the agency must determine, in accordance with guidelines developed and disseminated by the Office of Children and Family Services to the extent consistent with section 421.27 of this Part, whether to approve the applicant to be an adoptive parent. If the agency determines it will approve the applicant, the agency must maintain a written record, as part of the application file or home study, of the reason(s) why the applicant was determined to be appropriate and acceptable to receive an adoptive placement.

(d) Determine compliance with all of the criteria set forth in section 421.16 of this Part, explore each applicant's ability to be an adoptive parent, and discuss the following topics:

(1) characteristics and needs of children available for adoption;

(2) the principles and requirements for adopting a child who is a member of a sibling group in accordance with sections 421.2(e) and 421.18(b) of this Part;

(3) principles related to the development of children;

(4) reasons a person seeks to become an adoptive parent;

(5) the understanding of the adoptive parent role;

(6) the person's concerns and questions about adoption;

(7) the person's psychological readiness to assume responsibility for a child;

(8) the attitudes that each person in the applicant's home has about adoption and their concept of an adopted child's role in the family;

(9) the awareness of the impact that adoptive responsibilities have upon family life, relationships and current life style;

(10) a person's self-assessment of his/her capacity to provide a child with a stable and meaningful relationship; and

(11) the role of the agency in supervising and supporting the adoptive placement.

(e) When an adoption study has been completed and an authorized agency intends to approve an applicant, it shall:

(1) prepare a written summary of the study findings and activities, including significant characteristics of their family members, the family interaction, the family's relationship to other persons and the community, the family's child rearing practices and experiences, and any other material needed to describe the family for adoption purposes, to be submitted to workers in the agency or other agencies responsible for making placement decisions about children;

(2) arrange for the applicant(s) to review this written summary with the exception of any comments by references which have sought confidentiality;

(3) encourage the applicant(s) to express their views on the substance of any significant aspect of the written summary;

(4) give applicant(s) the opportunity to enter their reaction as an addendum to the written summary;

(5) arrange for the applicant(s) and the caseworker to sign the summary after it has been reviewed and any addendum has been attached; and

(6) provide a dated written notice of approval to applicant.

(f) Discontinue a study process and by mutual consent:

(1) the applicant's record shall reflect the discussion leading to such mutual agreement to discontinue; and

(2) the applicant shall be informed in writing of the discontinuation of the adoption study.

(g) Reject an applicant:

(1) during a study if his lack of cooperation does not permit the study to be carried out; or

(2) if it is determined after a thorough adoption study based on casework principles that he is:

(i) physically incapable of caring for an adopted child;

(ii) emotionally incapable of caring for an adopted child; or

(iii) that his approval would not be in the best interests of children awaiting adoptions.

(3) A decision to reject an applicant shall be made by at least two staff members in conference, one of whom shall be at a supervisory level.

(4) The record shall reflect the names of the participants in the decision and the reason for the decision.

(5) The agency must inform the applicant in writing that he has not been accepted, stating its reason(s) for rejection. If the rejection is based in whole or in part on the existence of an indicated report of child abuse or maltreatment, that fact and the reasons therefor must be included in the notice.

(6) The notification shall offer the applicant the opportunity to discuss this decision in person with the worker's supervisor.

(7) The notification must inform the applicant that he may apply for a hearing before the department pursuant to section 372-e of the Social Services Law regarding the rejection of the application and must state the procedure to be used for this purpose.

(8) If the reason for the rejection is based in whole or in part on the existence of an indicated report of child abuse or maltreatment, the agency must comply with the provisions of section 421.16(o) of this Part pertaining to notice of right to a hearing pursuant to section 424-a of the Social Services Law.

(h) Conclude an adoption study process in either discontinuation, rejection, or approval within four months of initiation:

(1) except where illness or geographic absence of the applicant makes him/her unavailable for a substantial part of said four-month period. In such a case, the record shall clearly show such unavailability and what efforts were made to contact the applicant; or

(2) provided, however, where an adoption study has been interrupted by unavailability of agency staff, the period of four months may be extended, but to not more than six months, if the applicant agrees to such extension in writing. If the applicant agrees to delay in order to avoid caseworker change, the record must show when this agreement was obtained. If the applicant does not accept such delay, the study must be concluded within the four months through the utilization of substitute staff or purchase of service.

(i) At the conclusion of the adoption study process, the registering agency shall update the adoptive parent registry required by section 424.3(a) of this Title, either by noting that an applicant has had the study approved or, in the case of a study resulting in either discontinuation or rejection, removing the applicant from the registry.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 18 § 421.15

Amended New York State Register December 23, 2015/Volume XXXVII, Issue 51, eff. 12/23/2015

Amended New York State Register January 25, 2017/Volume XXXIX, Issue 04, eff. 1/25/2017